The board game is also a free download for all communications professionals and digital marketers to enjoy and practice creative campaign skills.
Vero, an ASEAN-wide agency specializing in PR, creative, and digital marketing solutions with four offices in Southeast Asia, has created a board game titled “Campaign Go” as a New Year’s gift to partners and clients in Vietnam. Designed by members of Vero’s Ho Chi Minh City office, the aim of Campaign Go is to capture the big picture of the communications industry with friendly competition by simulating a year in the life of a marketer.
The process of ideation, design, and production for Campaign Go involved a core team of 10 people from the Creative, Strategy, Culture & Internal Communication, and Account departments at Vero’s Vietnam office who worked together over two months to bring the game to life, as well as contributions and support from many others. The board game has been produced in a limited run of 100 units exclusively for the 2021 Lunar New Year, but Vero has chosen to share all the materials needed to play Campaign Go with the public. The game can be downloaded for free to print and play from Vero’s website.
“Campaign Go represents the added value that Vero brings to our partners and clients, as well as the creativity of our team,” said Vero Strategy Director Hong Phuc Ngo. “Its inclusion of diverse resources reflects our holistic approach – we will consider every option and do whatever it takes to make a great campaign. Our recent ‘All The Firsts Make The Man’ campaign for the Korean razor brand Dorco is a prime example, as we used comedy videos, influencer engagement, user-generated content, and our knowledge of Vietnam’s Gen Z culture to draw young men (and women) into an active conversation about what becoming a man means to them.”
Campaign Go takes the form of a race to run the most successful communication campaigns across four rounds representing the quarters of a year. It features 70 cards, as well as a game mat and colored blocks that allow players to track their progress throughout the year. Market Environment cards change each quarter and randomly determine the conditions all players operate in, while each card in the Main Deck represents an element of a campaign, including the Brand Side, Agency Side, Supporting Department, Communication Activities, Influencers & Communities, Media Channels, and Outcomes.
Marketers can build their campaigns using all available resources, but they must watch out for opponents who will claim those resources before them. To win, they should strategize to obtain synergistic pairs or sets of three cards to add modifiers to their score. For example, when an Illustrator card is grouped with a Copywriter card and an Influencers & Media Relation Specialist card from the Agency Side department, the player will get 9 points. On the other hand, when combining one communication activity with a Top Streamer, Most-viewed Vlogger, or King of Luxury Wear card, the double point advantage can help players turn the tables and prevail. A player can even come from behind with the Industry Crisis card, which disadvantages all except those who hold matching resources.
Vero’s creation of this New Year’s gift is a testament to cross-cultural inspiration. Board and card games have a long history in Vietnam, with famous examples including Cờ Tướng (Elephant chess), Cờ Cá Ngựa (Jeu de Petits Chevaux), Ô Ăn Quan (Mancala), and Tam Cúc (Three Chrysanthemums), while Western-style tabletop games have more recently become beloved social activities in Vietnam and across Southeast Asia. As a regional agency that strives to intimately understand each local market, Vero designed Campaign Go as a synthesis of international trends and local culture.